May 03, 2012
By Curt Olson | Texas Budget Source
AUSTIN — Texas teachers may be supportive of added contributions to their pension, if Texas lawmakers commit themselves to boosting the state contribution to the required level for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas
May 03, 2012
The State Employees Retirement System said in a statement that the board decided to lower the expectation after months of discussion on current market conditions and reasonable expectations for the next 20 to 30 years.
May 02, 2012
May 02, 2012
April 20, 2012
By Staff Report | Illinois Statehouse News
SPRINGFIELD — Gov. Pat Quinn called it an “epic week” in state government.
The week started with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s visit to Illinois’ capital city and indicted state Rep. Derrick Smith‘s return to the Legislature.
The week ended with Quinn’s plans to rein in Medicaid spending and to heal the state’s pension system.
Walker campaigns in Illinois ahead of recall election
Walker spoke to Illinois’ business community here on Tuesday, offering his vision for economic growth and sound government management.
Walker criticized Illinois’ Democratic governor and the General Assembly for passing income tax hikes last year, arguing the low taxes and fiscal restraint he has sought in Wisconsin are better economic stimuli.
“There’s always been this false choice, between either raising taxes or cutting core services,” Walker said. “Who amongst you in business would say, ‘You know what, times are tough so I’m going to double the price of my product?’”
Walker, who faces a recall election this summer, earned renown and notoriety by spearheading the end of collective bargaining for Wisconsin’s public-sector unions last year.
Walker’s visit was sponsored by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business. His appearance drew throngs of pro-union protesters, while Quinn used the opportunity to ask for campaign donations via email.
Smith back to Legislature after federal indictment
Smith returned Tuesday to the Illinois House for the first time since being indicted on a federal bribery charge.
A federal grand jury indicted the Chicago Democrat a week earlier. He is accused of accepting $7,000 in exchange for writing a letter of support for a fictional day care center, set up by federal authorities, that he thought was seeking a $50,000 state grant.
A special House committee is investigating the accusations, and state officials from both parties have called for Smith’s resignation. His lawyer said the representative has no plans to resign.
“We’re encouraging people to watch the information come out,” said Victor Henderson, the Chicago attorney who represents Smith. “The state and the Legislature would do well to wait and not rush to judgment.”
Smith refused to comment to reporters gathered Tuesday at the capitol. His arraignment is scheduled for April 30.
Fracking legislation clears Senate committee with broad support
A proposal updating Illinois’ oil and gas law to regulate the latest evolution in drilling technology passed the Senate Environment Committee on Thursday with rare support from industry and environmental groups.
As energy companies secure leases to extract oil and gas in southern Illinois, some lawmakers and environmental groups have been trying to pass legislation regulating horizontal hydraulic fracturing, which uses water, sand and industrial fluids to crack open fissures in rocks to release oil or gas.
Senate Bill 3280 would require companies to disclose the chemical composition of the fracturing fluids and test the integrity of the cement and steel well casings meant to protect groundwater during the drilling process.
Environmental groups such as the Illinois Sierra Club and Faith in Place supported the legislation, as did several of the state’s business and industry groups, including the Illinois Oil and Gas Association, Illinois Chamber of Commerce and Illinois Manufacturing Association.
“It’s not very often that you see the industry groups and the environmental community come to together and agree on an issue,” said Dan Eichholz, associate director of the Illinois Petroleum Council, a trade group.
Bills to scrap legislative scholarships stuck in subcommittee
Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno on Wednesday questioned why three proposals to eliminate the state’s legislative scholarship program are bottled up in a subcommittee — despite a majority of senators being co-sponsors on the bill.
House Bill 3810, which 38 out of 59 state senators co-sponsor, joined two other bills sitting in subcommittee, with apparently little hope of making it to the Senate floor for a full vote.
The House voted in March to end the program, which has been rife with abuse, such as legislators awarding free college tuition rides to campaign donors or students outside their districts.
“I think it’s clear that the Senate Democrats are attempting to block this bill or, more specifically, a small group of Senate Democrats,” Radogno, a Lemont Republican, said. “It’s crystal clear that there is widespread support for this bill, and these are parliamentary maneuvers to keep it from coming up for a vote.”
Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, supports retaining the program, saying he would like to see it reformed instead of eliminated.
Quinn proposes cuts, cigarette tax to address soaring Medicaid costs
Quinn on Thursday proposed raising the state’s cigarette tax, eliminating some health-care services and more — all with an eye on deflating Illinois’ ballooning Medicaid costs.
“If we don’t deal with this problem right now, it’ll just get worse,” he said. “It’ll be billions and billions of dollars out of balance. We can’t afford that.”
Quinn’s proposal aims to generate $2.7 billion through savings and reductions to prevent the collapse of the state’s Medicaid program, on which 2.7 million Illinoisans rely. His suggestions include:
Ending the Illinois Cares Rx prescription program for 180,000 people, eliminating adult dental care for 172,000 patients and a moratorium on new admissions to intermediate care nursing facilities are among the 58 items Quinn targeted for cuts and reductions.
His plan, the product of a Medicaid working group he assembled earlier this year, does not address the $1.9 billion in overdue Medicaid bills the state is pushing off until next year.
The working group is scheduled to meet again Tuesday.
Quinn pitches two-tier public pension system
A day after Quinn unveiled his Medicaid reform package, he detailed how he wanted to go about healing the state’s ailing public pension system.
Quinn’s plan calls for state workers to pay 3 percent more toward their pensions. It also would shave retirees’ cost-of-living increases by 3 percent, and it would raise the retirement age for all state employees to 67.
Under the proposal, any employees who decline to sign up for the changes would lose state support for retiree health care, and they would not be able to count any future pay raises in their pension calculation.
The changes would not affect current retirees.
“I was put on Earth to get this done,” Quinn said Friday.
Public employee unions said Quinn’s plan violated the Illinois Constitution, which calls a public pension “an enforceable contractual relationship, the benefits of which shall not be diminished or impaired.”
The state is facing a pension-funding shortfall of $83 billion, and pension payments now consume 15 percent of the state’s operating budget, up from 6 percent in 2008.
